A school bus was preparing to drop off students on 206 County Road in Southampton, Massachusetts on the midafternoon of Tuesday, January 13, 2015 when a car traveling on the other side of the road slammed into another vehicle in front of it, then swerved, ending with a collision with the bus. The bus was escorting 31 children home at the time of the accident. No serious injuries have been reported as a result of the accident.
The bus reportedly was slowing to a stop and had turned on its flashing lights. By law, all motorists traveling on the road with a school bus whose stopping lights are on are required to stop and wait until the lights have ceased flashing to resume travel. One car had stopped for the flashing lights, but the driver of the vehicle behind it apparently did not see that the vehicle had stopped and rear-ended the car veering into the opposite lane and slamming into the school bus.
The driver of the stopped vehicle reported experiencing pain following the rear-end collision and was transported by first responders to an area hospital for medical evaluation. The car that rear-ended the stopped vehicle and crashed into the bus was transporting two young children at the time of the collision, and neither they nor the driver was harmed in the incident.
The car that hit the bus sustained severe front-end damage, and the vehicle it struck before colliding with the bus was also damaged in the accident, but was able to be safely operated following the crash. The bus did sustain some front-end damage, but was still operable following the incident and was able to be driven away from the site of the crash.
None of the drivers’ identities have been released to the public, and police are continuing to investigate the cause of the accident at this time.